The Victorians turned flower giving into an art, and Sheila Pickles's The Language of Flowers explores the meanings and significance ascribed to certain flowers.

Penhaligon's Violetta perfume scents the book, and violets are one of the more than twenty such English flowers whose my myths and legends are explored and their subtle language revealed.

Favorite poems and prose selections by classic authors illustrate these themes and are accompanied by richly decorative, floral paintings. This treasury makes the perfect gift for occasions when something more lasting than flowers is appropriate.

The Language of Flowers would also be a great companion read for anyone reading Random Magic. There are several places in Random Magic where knowledge about the language of flowers would help in discovering secret messages in a particular scene; secret messages hidden in plain sight...

The author gathers favorite literary reflections on this timeless theme - from the childhood loves of Dickens to the tempestuous passions of Lord Byron - and includes classic amorous paintings from Renaissance and 19th-century masters. The book is scented with Penhaligon's perfume, Elizabethan Rose.

Apart from being a wild adventure, Random Magic is also meditation on and celebration of the arts, creativity, passion, legends, love, and the love of beauty.

This book (Love) suits the celebration of love in Random Magic: Vive L'Amour wonderfully, and would make a sweet complementary read for anyone enjoying Random Magic - or just a lovely bit of luxury to be enjoyed slowly, alongside a nice cup of tea or coffee, on a chilly day.

~*~

Giveaway details:

Winners: 2

Winner: First pick of booksRunner-up: Wins second book

Open to all.

Offer ends: February 14, 2011

Winner announced: February 16, 2011

TO DO (3-parts):1. Create a blog post with the Random Magic Tour: Vive L’Amour image and title above with a link back to this giveaway post.

2. From Feb 1-14: Collect and copy/paste a minimum of 5 Heart badges that you find from the various blog tour stops listed on the schedule with a notation of where it was found (first freebie heart below).

fyi: On this post I placed the heart badge on the bottom of the post. The location and colors of heart badges on blog tour stops vary.

Please note: your post doesn't have to be centered or worded exactly the same and feel free to create your own layout.

3. In comments send me the link to your post. You can send me the link to your post once the first heart is found.

* Scoring * (or * Credits *)

Candy heart + link where it was found: 2 pointsLeft comment on post: 1 pointTwitter link: 1 point(If you don't have a Twitter account, you can just leave a second comment on different post, instead.)Max points per heart/link/comment/Twitter entry: 4

If you collect five hearts: You are in finals!If you collect more than five hearts: You go to bonus round.To win: Collect most points by Feb. 14

Her fate was to hold the world together. His destiny was to tear it apart.

As a child, Durga was chosen by the goddess to save the world from sterility and extinction. Now her eighteenth birthday approaches, and Durga must take her place among the chalices, women blessed by the goddess with fertility to ensure more souls for the universe. Durga's mission does not include love ... but Khai, the scion of Luxor, is unlike any man she's ever met.

Char Meadowlark once played a role in the goddess's plans. Now her lover, Jake Ardri, heads an emerging city-state whose enemies covet everything Jake has built. As Jake navigates the uneasy waters of political intrigue, his very existence is threatened. To save him, Char must share him with a chalice ... one trained to take him to the heights of sexual ecstasy.

In flagrante apocalypto: When the veil drops between life and oblivion, only love can save them from the abyss.

Amusing quote:The chalices must not have relationships with the princes. Nor can they bond with the offspring. If they want affection, they can get a dog.- location 918

My two-bits:In-a-word(s): fertilityI liked these characters from book one, Space Junque, so it was not hard to like this story. However, I missed the action and adventure feel as this one delves into settling down.

TO: viviFR: CarlosThis is the beach I go to rest in the Summer. It was considered one of the top 20 in the world. I try to think of it to help me get over these cold days. Hope you can get something like that for yourself.

~*~

TO: viviFR: SusanaIf they can handle the cold, so can you! :PHope you get some heart warming out of this picture, vivi!

~*~

TO: viviFR: Gonçalo On my only Winter's vacation in recent years, I was in Venice. I can guarantee you it is not a good place to be in cold time. The water makes it very very cold, bad weather makes the boats go side-to-side and there are floods! So, as you see, every great place has it's problems! Hang in there, beauty comes right after a little "suffering"!

~*~

TO: viviFR: AudraGreetings from Ephesus, Turkey! Not as cold as Rome was, but not warm enough for shorts (not even Cairo was that warm), but finally, sunny! Ephesus was one of the largest cities during the Roman Empire and the ruins excavated are in pristine condition -- makes it easy to envision what a typical Roman city looked like. Being back in Rome, I'd give anything to be back in Turkey! xx - audra

Description from the amazon:From TV writer Dee DeTarsio, a new novel, The Scent of Jade. When an ancient jade relic that holds secrets to global warming ends up in the hands of a not-so-perfect heroine, she is thrust in a fish-out-of-water adventure, lost in the Costa Rican rainforest.

“Romancing The Stone” meets “Survivor” for Julie Fraser, who was minding her own business, living her life as snug as a bug in a rut in San Diego, California. As the least adventurous person she knows, Julie finally whooped it up one day to jet off and surprise her husband, who was on a business trip in Costa Rica. Reeling from the discovery that her husband wasn’t who she thought he was, she accidentally steals an ancient artifact and is chased through the wilds of the rainforest, not knowing where to turn, literally, or whom to trust. She knew she should have stayed home.

Can a monkey, a blonde Juan, a foreign scientist, a mysterious ‘love potion’ and the jade stone itself (that may hold secrets to global warming), help Julie on her mission to find and forgive her husband?

The stolen idol catapults her on a quest, as she discovers truths along the way about herself and her place in the universe. The Scent of Jade is creative and unique with surprising twists--in turn suspenseful and heartbreaking, combining humor and romance to reach the payoff ending. Original characters keep the pages turning.

The Scent of Jade spins its story with wit and wisdom, drawing those who love mystery, suspense, romance and adventure. While there are no vampires, readers are invited to enjoy the intrigue...

Amusing quote:The sun was shining, birds were cawing and the monkey was oo-oo-ee-ing right outside the kitchen window as I stopped for my cup of coffee.- location 1110, chapter 13

Description from the amazon:Frances, a Chinese-American student at an academically competitive school in San Francisco, has always had it drilled into her to be obedient to her mother and to be a straight-A student so that she can go to Med school.

But is being a doctor what she wants? It has never even occurred to Frances to question her own feelings and desires until she accidentally winds up in speech class and finds herself with a hidden talent.

Does she dare to challenge the mother who has sacrificed everything for her?

Set in the 1980s.

My two-bits:In-a-word(s): speakA classic mother-daughter struggle with perspective of Chinese Americans. One can see how family and culture play such a pivotal role in life. This is also a coming-of-age story as the protagonist deals with guilt and emotional abuse.

My yearning to travel began when I was young. Or maybe it was genetic. My father loved to talk about foreign lands with exotic names: Basra, Bagdad, Shanghai, Cairo, places where battles were fought, people were enslaved, gold was discovered and ancient artifacts were hidden, waiting for the next adventurer to mine them.

Many nights instead of reading to my brother and me, Dad would make up his own series of adventures. The “Cloud Car,” a puff of whiteness with a face, drifted to our bedroom windows to give us a ride to a distant land. The stories always ended the same way. We’d wake up in our own beds with a souvenir from Morocco or Alaska, Hong Kong or Paris.

It’s not surprising that the first time I got to see some ancient ruins, I fell in love. My husband and I and our kids were visiting my brother and his family in London. Near the ancient gate of the city, I gazed at the Roman ruins and knew I had to see more, lots more.

Italy, Greece, Turkey—did I mention how much my father loved telling stories set in Istanbul? We visited many ruins, so many I decided I needed to learn more about the science and history of archaeology.

Soon I was collecting information on Mayan ruins that lay hidden for centuries. I finally persuaded my husband to go on an archaeological tour along the Ruta de Maya, the path of the Mayans.

Surrounded by the expansive archeological site of Copan, in Honduras, we stood at the foot of the famous staircase, while an attractive young archeologist/guide described its reconstruction, and happened to mention the “books” the Mayans produced.

They had books? I hadn’t known that. The archaeologist explained the Maya recorded their scientific and historic data by drawing hieroglyphs on paper made from tree bark, folded like an accordion to form a book, a codex.

The archaeologist added one more tidbit: in the 16th Century most of the codices were burned by the Spanish Conquistadores, as the Inquisition had ordered.

I was struck by the loss of knowledge and culture. Think what the discovery of just one codex might do for the history of a mighty civilization.

Our archeologist then said the words that gave me the idea for my book: a few of the codices survived, because they had been carried back to Europe as souvenirs and rediscovered in the 19th Century.

My imagination took over. I thought what if there was one more codex hidden deep in the Mexican rain forest? What if there was a map indicating its hiding place? And what if a handsome Mexican-American archeologist inherited that map, and bad guys try to steal it? What if a feisty, independent woman met the archeologist and became entangled by passion and intrigue?

And what, I finally wondered, if A. Y. Stratton wrote that story and got it published?~end

Olivia Peters is over the moon when her literary idol, the celebrated novelist and muchadored local priest Mark D. Brendan, offers to become her personal writing mentor. But when Father Mark’s enthusiasm for Olivia’s prose develops into something more, Olivia’s emotions quickly shift from wonder to confusion to despair. Exactly what game is Father Mark playing, and how on earth can she get out of it?

This remarkable novel about overcoming the isolation that stems from victimization is powerful, luminous, and impossible to put down.

My two-bits:In-a-word(s): creepyWatching the story unfold you can totally see how one can fall into the trap set for an innocent soul.

--/=/=-- Book Giveaway --=\=\=-

Prize: my gently read ARC

Open to all.

Offer ends: February 1, 2011

TO DO:Visit Donna's site and tell me something about something you found there.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Description from the amazon:Public relations expert Lauren Richmond believes her family has been jinxed in the love department. To avoid the chaos she suffered as a child, she has built a grammatically-perfect, passion-free life, which crumbles shortly after she rescues a man from muggers.

The victim, Luis Hernandez, is an archeology professor on a quest to locate an ancient Mayan document that survived the Spanish Inquisition. Convinced that the Codex exists, Luis is determined to protect his ancestors' priceless artifacts.

When strangers ransack Luis's home and office and then threaten Lauren, sweet and seductive Luis insists the mysterious map he inherited from his grandfather has nothing to do with the incidents.

Deep in the Mexican rain forest at a Mayan dig site, Luis and Lauren must outsmart ruthless grave robbers and battle phantoms from their past to rescue a treasure that could destroy their love.

Amusing quotes:"Each discovery has the potential to prove the intelligence, the power, and the brilliance of the Mayan heritage. That's what I'm after."- says Luis, page 39, chapter 3

How did we get on the floor and how long have we been here?" she asked.- says Lauren, page 46, chapter 4

A woman has the Christmas Eve from Hell. Two cat shifters play naughty games. And a witch brings out the beast inside the man. The magic of the season takes on a whole new meaning in these three fantastic—and festive—novellas from some of the best voices in paranormal romance.

Anthology includes:stories are also available separately

No Angel by Vivi AndrewsDescription from publisher's site:When Sasha's boyfriend, Jay, is sucked through a fiery vortex to Hell, an angel reveals that Sasha's been chosen as the Champion of Virtue in the battle for his immortal soul. As a perennial offender on Santa's naughty list, Sasha can't believe she's anyone's idea of a girl fighting on the side of the angels. But if she doesn't save Jay, he'll be stuck in Hell forever!

Jay—aka Jevroth—isn't surprised to find himself back in Hell. His visa to visit the mortal plane expired three months ago, but to steal more time with Sasha he's been ignoring his mother's demands that he come home to spend time with his new stepfather: Lucifer.

Sasha has until dawn on the twenty-fifth of December to fight the Legions of Hell and rescue Jay, or be trapped there for eternity herself. But now she must decide if the lying son-of-a-demon is even worth saving...

Five miles of leather-clad leg is all it takes to lure Kyle Branegan out from his carefully hidden lifestyle as part of the Cougar Corp, a secret branch of the Shifter Enforcer League. He's hoping for a night of fun and frolic, cat-style, no strings attached. With a sultry swing of her hips, Eloise Scott tangles him up in her ball of tricks, and just when he thinks he's about to get lucky, she cuffs him—naked—to her bed.

An undercover cop in the human police force, El's been given a top-secret mission to keep the big cat under her paw until he's needed to testify in court in the New Year. Her decision to take him home for a quiet Christmas in her sleepy hometown turns out to be far more interesting than she expected. Her parents are suddenly rich, her old boyfriend is sniffing around and all six-feet-plus of sexy cougar male is sleeping in her bed.

And that's before they announce their fake engagement...

My two-bits:In-a-word(s): buckoRating: 4There is more to this sexy cougar couple's antics than meets the eye. Loved the flow of this story and the secret identity reveals.

A twenty-first century ice age dulls the magic that emanates from the earth. Shane Sullivan is a lone wolf above the freeze line. He has no desire to join the packs that range closer to the border, where feral instincts can turn a man into a monster. Not until the winter solstice, when he stumbles across a dying witch who needs his help to get back to her people—and her magic—in the south.

Nadia is a powerful woman in her own world, but she's been drained by her escape from captivity in a northern lab. She knows it's foolhardy to trust a werewolf, but he's her only chance to survive the vast white wilderness. The farther south they travel, the harder it is for Shane to keep the beast within under control, and as their mutual attraction intensifies, Nadia's no longer sure she wants him to.

Description from the amazon:In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half.

Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

My two-bits:In-a-word(s):I enjoyed this coming-of-age story in a zombocalyptic world. The character growth between Benny and his friends and Benny and his brother held my attention.